![]() Avoid close contact. Don’t go to your doctor’s rooms. So what are your options? Globally, people have been slow to take up consulting doctor using digital and social platforms. But, with COVID-19 now in 100s of countries, the number of people spending time with doctors through screens is increasing just as fast. The number of COVID-19 infections have exceeded 100 000 and are increasing daily. So are the number of people using telemedicine technology. With good reason. Using your computer or smartphone to see a medical professional is not new. Virtual consultations and treatment have been available in most healthcare systems and through medical schemes, including Discovery Health Medical Scheme, for some years. But, given the traditional preference for face-to-face consultations between doctor and patient, virtual consultations and remote care were mainly for the future, for tech-savvy generations. This view is changing fast as the world responds to COVID-19. Dr Peter Antall, the chief medical officer for AmWell, was quoted saying “telehealth is being rediscovered” as health systems are racing to adapt and even develop virtual services that can serve as their front line for patients. (Doctors and patients turn to telemedicine in the coronavirus outbreak). Virtual care is the first line of defence Technology-based consultations and remote contact with patients through virtual platforms are fast becoming the norm. As people connect virtually, healthcare professionals manage overcrowding of consultation rooms, ensure appropriate referral for care, and help prevent the highly infectious COVID-19 virus from spreading. More importantly, virtual care keeps the worried calm, and those who need immediate care are prioritised. “In South Africa, we’re raising awareness and taking appropriate precautions to help to minimise the spread of COVID-19. We must continue to do everything possible to minimise the chance of uncontrolled spread. Applying learnings from around the world in managing COVID-19, show access to and using telemedicine and virtual consultations are of critical importance. It has been an effective healthcare tool to ensure appropriate care while making sure infection rates are controlled by avoiding direct contact with others,” says Dr Noluthando Nematswerani, Discovery Health’s Head of the Centre for Clinical Excellence. The power of social distancing, part of which is offering virtual healthcare, has been invaluable in the success of China (fewer than 50 infections a day) and South Korea (from 900 infections a day to fewer than 200) in containing COVID-19. Promoting virtual consultations prevents medical facilities from becoming overcrowded with people, possibly spreading infection to others. Doctors from around the world agree with this approach and are praising telemedicine technology for helping to successfully manage COVID-19. Virtual consultations through DrConnect: reaching more people virtually Since 2017 Discovery Health Medical Scheme has had a virtual consultation platform called DrConnect. This digital platform, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning, gives members of the Scheme access to virtual consultations with healthcare providers they have visited in the past 12 months. Through the Discovery app, this platform also offers free trusted medical information from a worldwide network of doctors. “It’s natural that people may be concerned and would want to see a medical professional. Your first choice when any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 are present, should be to stay away from others. Contact your doctor, either telephonically or through virtual consultation channel, like DrConnect (that’s available through Discovery Health Medical Scheme). Accessing virtual consultations, especially now as a measure to contain COVID-19, ensures that people receive the correct care and that we protect the health of others,” says Dr Nematswerani. In response to COVID-19 infections in South Africa, Discovery Health Medical Scheme has a benefit to support the diagnosis and treatment of the illness. Going forward, Discovery Health is looking at opening a basic version of DrConnect to a broader segment of healthcare professionals and people. Commenting on this, Dr Nematswerani says, “With more people having access to and using virtual consultations, we can employ this as another method to contain the spread as well as minimise the accompanying health and other environmental effects of COVID-19.” Telehealth platforms are helping experts and medical professionals around the world to map cases and to distribute messages of prevention and appropriate care. Through effective prevention and encouraging virtual care, we can contain COVID-19. Source: Discovery Health
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![]() Market Update South African equities fell during the month of February in line with other global equity markets, with only four shares in the top 60 of the JSE finishing the month with a positive return. Local bonds reacted positively to the budget speech by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, however, the asset class lost some ground towards the end of the month as yields moved higher (moving prices lower) due to sales by foreigners on the back of the de-risking trend. Local listed property came under severe pressure during the month, as the sector faced headwinds from weak local economic conditions and global risk aversion to those asset classes perceived as risky. The rand was weaker against major developed market currencies during the month, which masked the negative contribution from global equity allocations slightly. Economic Update Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered an ambitious budget speech during the month, with the minister announcing the intention to reduce expenditure by R261 billion over the next three years, including a reduction in the government wage bill of R160 billion. The minister also announced a downward revision of R63 billion in estimates of tax revenue for the 2019/2020 fiscal year relative to the 2019 budget, which is likely to lead to a budget deficit of 6.3% for 2019/2020. Headline inflation moved up slightly during the month to a year-on-year figure of 4.5% to the end of January, driven higher by the base effect of an increase in the price of transport in particular. See below for a summary of the key market movements for the month of February:
*All data is sourced from Morningstar Direct as at 29/02/2020. The performance of South African asset classes is quoted in rands and the performance of global asset classes is quoted in US dollars. Source: Morningstar ![]() Investors and market participants should be well aware of the Coronavirus and the equity market declines which have occurred during February on the back of concerns around its likely effect on future economic performance and company profits. During market drawdowns such as these, we believe that it is important to remain calm and not be forced into making rash short-term decisions which impede the ability of investors to achieve their financial goals. While market sell offs are never comfortable, we believe that it is important to focus on whether the moves are driven by sentiment or long-term fundamentals. In our view, many of the movements have been based on panic and emotions, as investors are not able to stomach the volatility that comes with investing in equity markets. We will continue to monitor proceedings closely, as we unpack whether rebalancing or restructuring of portfolios is prudent given the market movements. February was a volatile month for global markets, as the spread of the Coronavirus and its likely effect on global economic growth drove investors out of equities and into perceived safe-haven assets including developed market government bonds. The 10-year US treasury yield fell to an all time low of 1.10%, with markets swiftly pricing in at least two interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in the next few months. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) sank to 35.7 in February from a figure of 50.0 in January (greater than 50 indicates expansion), as the extent of the damage to the Chinese economy in the short-term from the Coronavirus became apparent. Source: Morningstar ![]() Staying healthy and keeping others safe should be your number one priority right now. Vitality’s key principles have never been more relevant: exercise if you’re well, eat healthy food, and take preventive measures, like washing your hands and maintaining social distancing. We’re living in unprecedented times, and Vitality plays a central role in helping you stay healthy, with benefits and rewards tailored to our present reality. Our HealthyFood, HealthyCare, and HealthyGear benefits are more valuable than ever, giving members valuable discounts on all HealthyLiving items. And our Device Booster and Apple Watch benefits come in handy for members who would like to meet their exercise goals from home. We’ve taken the following immediate steps to give Vitality members peace of mind during this time Vitality Active Rewards maximum weekly goal drops to 700 points We have lowered the Vitality Active Rewards weekly goal from 900 to 700 Vitality points. This means if you are missing gym workouts, parkruns or myruns, you can still hit your weekly goal in a number of ways. For example, if you track 10 000 steps a day on your smartphone, you can earn 100 Vitality points – the same as when you go to the gym. Your Vitality gym discount is safe We are adjusting the 36-visits-in-12-months rule so that if you’ve been going to gym regularly until now, your discount won’t be affected if you decide to skip gym over this period. Look out for more details in the upcoming newsletter. Your HealthyLiving discounts will not be impacted We are pausing the 12-month cycle rule for members to do their Vitality Health Check or Vitality Fitness Assessment to maintain their HealthyFood, HealthyCare and HealthyGear discounts. The year is young, and the situation will change. Don’t worry about achieving your Vitality status right now. Keep engaging if you’re well, and remember that there are many other points-earning activities that you’ll be able to access later in the year. Rest assured, we want to recognise and reward you for making us your partner in your health journey and we will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds through the year. What’s more, we are enhancing your rewards in the coming weeks Keep exercising with a discounted fitness device Keep exercising if you are well. As a special offer, we are giving members a R1 000 upfront discount on all qualifying Fitbit, Garmin, Huawei, Polar, Samsung or Suunto heart rate fitness devices at Sportsmans Warehouse or Totalsports. This is in addition to your Device Booster benefit of up to 75% cash back. With a fitness device, you can track and record your physical activity to continue earning Vitality points and weekly rewards on Vitality Active Rewards. Free delivery on HealthyFood Working closely with our HealthyFood partner Pick n Pay, we are giving Vitality members a free delivery voucher on their next online shopping transaction. This offer is in addition to your HealthyFood cash back. We are boosting your HealthyDining benefit To help you eat well and stay healthy, we are boosting your existing HealthyDining benefit by 10%. Now, instead of the usual up to 25% back on healthy meals when you order through Uber Eats and our partner restaurants, you can get up to 35% back for making healthy choices. Vitality Active Rewards in the comfort of your home Over the coming weeks, you can also enjoy great discounts on select Vitality Active Rewards online shopping and home entertainment rewards. Whether you like to watch movies at home or to snuggle up with a good book, you can now watch BoxOffice movies or buy your next read from Exclusive Books for less Discovery Miles. Plus we'll be adding gaming vouchers to Vitality Active Rewards. To apply for Vitality contact Tammy or Namhla in our Health department email:[email protected] tel (011)658-1333 Source: Discovery Dear Client/Stakeholder
In response to President’s Ramaphosa’s 21-day lock down announcement last night, please note that Daberistic will still be fully operational. All of our staff will be working remotely from Friday 27 March. Everyone will be available via switchboard 011-658-1333, on e-mails and WeChat. We will be using Zoom and WeChat for video calls when required. E-mails: For life insurance and investment queries, [email protected] For medical aid, gap cover and Vitality queries, [email protected] For commercial, car and household insurance queries, [email protected] To escalate a query to Office Manager, [email protected] Daberistic will continue to provide you with exceptional service, we are 100% committed during this time. Over the last two weeks we have received a lot of client queries to apply for medical aid, business insurance and life insurance. We continue to assist clients to get them covered. Currently there is high demand on medical aid applications, please be patient; you will receive communication within 24 hours but the application may take time as our service providers are also in backlog with applications. On the other hand, we anticipate many clients to experience financial distress due to coronavirus, social distancing and lockdown. Please speak to your financial advisor or broker to discuss ways of reducing expenditure if needs arise, e.g. stop investment debit order, premium holiday, reduce premiums. We await the product providers to announce any measures they may take in response to the President's announcement, to ease the burden of consumers. It's time for us to help those in need, to reflect on our personal and business priorities. It’s time to rethink our values. Let’s heed our President's call to stay at home, have good hygiene habits, practise social distancing. Let's work together to triumph over Covid-19! Kevin Yeh Key Individual |
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